When I first heard about the Paleo diet, my cynical side just thought: “Ha! Another fad. Let’s see how long this lasts”. And I didn’t really give it much thought. A few months ago, I decided to sign up to a few personal training sessions at my gym. I was already very active, attending high intensity workouts 4 times a week including muay thai kickboxing, weight training, conditioning etc. Although my fitness level had rapidly improved with noticeable muscle definition, I still hadn’t seemed to slim down much. I just wanted to shed 4-5 pounds. So when I started seeing my Trainer, the first thing she told me to do was to keep a food diary for a week. And to my surprise, after reviewing it, the first thing she said to me was:“I can see straight away, that you are not eating enough, especially for the workouts you are doing”. As you can imagine, this was music to my ears. I never thought I would be encouraged to eat more. But of course, it wasn’t that simple. She recommended that I change many of my foods, which I had assumed to be healthy and low in calories. As per my Trainer’s recommendations, over the next 8 weeks, my diet changed as follows:·I increased the amount of vegetables in my diet, to the extent that I had vegetables in my 3 main meals – yes even for breakfast. “Veggies for breakfast?” you may ask - that’s what I thought. Scrambled eggs with spinach leaves, tomatoes and avocado, simple yet tasty and satisfying. The nutrients in fresh vegetables are so beneficial - especially when you are working out.·I incorporated the following for most meals: 1 x palm sized portion of protein, a large fist of vegetables and a thumb of good fats (such as avocado or olive oil)·I drastically reduced the amount of cheese in my diet, which was hard at first, yet I found my cheese carvings diminished after a couple of weeks.·As a huge coffee lover, there was no way that I was going to give up caffeine. Yet I started drinking long blacks (sometimes with a splash of full cream milk) rather than Café Lattes. ·I avoided “fat-free” packaged food, as fat-free generally means more sugar.·I stopped buying canned / packaged food and started preparing meals with fresh ingredients. ·I reduced my carb intake including bread, pasta and rice. To my horror, I was told that sushi rolls were considered a cheat meal! Nooooooo!·I was allowed 2 cheat meals a week (not cheat days, cheat meals). This was great when going out for dinner as I had more options to choose from. But I had to use these meals wisely. As a result of my new food choices, I managed to lose 5 pounds in 8 weeks (despite the Christmas festivities, would you believe). In addition, I now crave fresh vegetables - who would have thought? But the benefits don’t stop there. I now sleep better and I feel so much better. Plus, my bowel movements are regular. Woo hoo! I know this may be a little too personal, however, I know so many women that have issues in this area. This is definitely a HUGE benefit of my altered eating habits. Plus, as I am the cook in my household, my husband is also eating better and cleaner because of my meal and ingredient choices. When I looked back at my altered food choices, I only just realised that I generally follow a paleo diet, for 90% of my meals. I clearly proved myself wrong about the “paleo fad”. Yet I am so pleased to admit that I am reaping the rewards.